Jim Cramer on The Hershey Company (HSY): ‘Wake Me Up When It Sells At 14 Times Earnings And Then I Might Even Consider It’

We recently compiled a list of the Jim Cramer Shed Light on These 10 Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) stands against the other stocks.

Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money, recently offered some important advice on how young people should approach investing and managing their money. He emphasized that the first and most important step for anyone is to invest. Cramer pointed out that investing is the only way to secure financial freedom in the long term. He then stated:

“Before you can start investing, you need to pay off the foreign credit card… No matter how much money you rack up in the stock market, if you’re carrying a balance on your credit cards, then it’s going to eat your returns.”

READ ALSO 10 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar and 17 Best Stocks for Kids According to Jim Cramer

Cramer then shared a few lessons specifically tailored for young investors. He explained that the first piece of advice is valuable to people of all ages. His advice was that young people should save money. He noted that the stock market can actually serve as a tool to help people save by forcing them to set aside a portion of their paycheck that they might otherwise spend. He then added:

“Second lesson for young investors, this is a much more targeted piece of advice: While you’re still young, you can afford to take a lot more risks than say a gray beard like myself.”

Finally, Cramer stressed that it is never too early to begin planning for retirement. He recommended taking full advantage of any employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, especially if the employer matches contributions. He also urged young investors to consider contributing to a Roth IRA, which he described as an ideal option for those early in their careers.

“Here’s the bottom line: For young people just outta college investing is a great way to trick yourself into saving money you might otherwise spend. Beyond that, remember, when you’re young, you can afford to take a lot more risk with your portfolio and it’s never too soon to start contributing to your 401k or IRA.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on January 24. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the third quarter, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Jim Cramer on Hershey (HSY): Cocoa Prices Are the Problem, but a 35-Point Rally Is Coming

A close-up of hands deftly moulding a bar of chocolate.

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

A caller expressed worry about The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in light of price increases for cocoa. In reply, Cramer commented:

“52-week low, 52-week low today, 3.6% yield. That doesn’t protect against anything because you know you can get a lot more… interest rates. The stock is, the numbers can’t be made. Still sells at 16 times earnings. Wake me up when it sells at 14 times earnings and then I might even consider it. If you have to own sweets, go own Mondelez, okay? Just own Mondelez.”

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) manufactures and sells a wide variety of confectionery products, snacks, and pantry items, offering popular brands like Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, and Kit Kat, among others. Its product range includes chocolate, gum, protein bars, baking ingredients, and savory snacks. While Cramer did not lean toward the company during the episode, his sentiments were different toward the company in 2022 when he said:

“Hershey’s the most consistent growth stock in a group where safety’s first, and you know what they say, safety never takes a vacation. I would buy some here, then wait to buy more if the stock gets hit the next time we have an inflation scare… One of the best kept secrets of this market is how well this company, this simple confectionary maker, has done in the era of inflation. Put simply, Hershey is the best performer in the group by any measure, but it’s never talked about.”

Overall HSY ranks 7th on our list of the stocks Jim Cramer recently shed light on. While we acknowledge the potential of HSY as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HSY but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.